A Qualitative Examination of the Implementation of Educator-Family Partnerships in a Canadian College-Based Early Childcare Centre

The family and educator partnership is recognized in policy and professional guidelines as an important aspect of early childhood education programs (Avari et al., 2023; Kambouri et al., 2022, Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007). Partnership is defined in the Early Learning for Every Child Today (ELECT) framework as a relationship between families and service providers that is based on mutual trust, respect, and is sensitive to family culture, values, language, and composition (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007). Successful partnerships between families and early childhood educators have the potential to enhance early learning opportunities for children and the abilities of adults to support the needs of children (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007). However, research evidence suggests that, in practice, family-educator partnerships are not fully realized in childcare settings (Hadley & Rouse, 2018; Karila & Alasuutari, 2012; McWayne et al., 2022). Objective: In this Dissertation in Practice, I examined this policy-practice gap as a question of implementation. Using Fixsen et al.’s (2009) Core Implementation Components framework, the purpose of the study was to explore the conditions necessary to establish meaningful family-educator partnerships by examining how, and to what extent, professional development (e.g., training, coaching, and mentoring), organizational (e.g., facilitative administration, data used to support decision making) and leadership practices in one Toronto, Ontario community college-based childcare centre supported meaningful family-educator partnerships. Method: In this multi-method qualitative study, I (1) identified and reviewed ten key documents (e.g., provincial government curriculum and municipal quality assessment guidelines, early childhood education college course outlines, childcare centre parent handbook) to examine the definitions and descriptions of family-educator partnerships in this childcare centre, and (2) individually interviewed 11 parents and educators from the childcare centre to gather their experiences and perspectives on establishing meaningful partnerships. Results: Document analysis indicated that definitions and descriptions of family-educator partnerships are broad and vary across key documents, often building on previous descriptions. While the broad nature of these descriptions allows for diverse interpretations in how family-educator partnerships are conducted in practice, the number of descriptions and lack of explicitness may be a barrier to establishing clear indicators of meaningful family-educator partnerships. Interviews with parents and staff alike indicated that relationships between families and educators are cherished; participants described each other as a second family and an important part of a village raising each child. These relationships benefited from daily communication in a welcoming and safe environment, often through informal exchanges during in-person transitions. The review of key documents and interviews with key informants both highlighted the extent to which the Core Implementation Components shape family-educator partnerships. Early Childhood Educators were introduced to working with families during the pre-service education program and, in this location, benefitted from an inclusive and supportive workplace. There are extensive guidelines in early childhood education to support practitioners and external systems available to provide additional resources when necessary. Finally, leadership, often through relational roles more than a formal leadership structure, influenced the decision-making processes involved in supporting families and how the centre responded to daily and unpredictable challenges. Conclusion: Examining family-educator partnerships as a problem of implementation, not a failure in policy or individual performance, provided valuable insight into the many conditions that enable meaningful partnerships. Based on the results of this case study, four features of implementation still require explicit inclusion of family partnership principles in this childcare setting. These include staff selection and training, use of indicators to measure partnerships and continued alignment between practitioner and organizational needs.

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